Vol. XXIV, pp. 175-178 June 16, 1911 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



THE LOUISIANA PUMA. 



BY N. HOLLISTER. 



[Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.] 



An attempt to identify the specimens of pumas in the collec- 

 tion of the United States National Museum has resulted in the 

 discovery that the form found in Louisiana is very different 

 from any yet described. This new form is represented in the 

 museum collections by three specimens; two skulls from Mer 

 Rouge, Morehouse Parish, collected by J. Fairie many years 

 ago, and a skin and skull in the Biological Survey collection 

 from Vidalia, Concordia Parish. The Louisiana puma is much 

 more closely related to the puma of Florida than to the northern 

 form or to Felis oregonensis azteca. It is readily separable from 

 both the first and the last species by very marked color differ- 

 ences. The museum is fortunate in possessing two skulls each 

 of Felis couguar from New York and Felis corgi from Florida, as 

 well as good series of the western species. The pelage of the 

 Florida puma has been carefully described by Mr. Chas. B. 

 Cory,* by Mr. Outram Bangs,! and by Dr. C. Hart Merriam,+ 

 and Mr. Bangs has proved that it varies little in color with the 

 season. From the records of the occurrence of the puma in the 

 Southern States collected and published by Dr. F. W. True § it 

 seems certain that the distribution between Florida and Louis- 

 iana was at one time continuous. As so little is known of the 

 animal formerly inhabiting that region, however, and as the 

 Louisiana puma differs so greatly from the Florida animal in 

 color it seems best to regard it at present as a distinct species. 



* Hunting and Fishing in Florida, p. 109, 1896. 

 t Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XIII, pp. 15-17, 1899. 

 tProc. Washington Acad. Sci., Ill, pp. 583-585, 1901. 

 § Report U. S. Nat. Mus., 1888-'89, pp. 591-608, 1891. 



31— Pkoc. P.iol. Soc. Wash., Vor.. XXIV, 1911. (17.-,) 



